“Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life”, by Alison Weir

464 pages, Ballantine Books, ISBN-13: 978-0345405401

Jeez, can ole’ Eleanor get any respect? In my August 4^th review of Eleanor of Aquitaine: The Mother Queen by Desmond Seward I said that it was rather disappointing as it seemed to be more of a history of the men in the Queen’s life rather than of the queen herself. So now we come upon Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life by Alison Weir, expecting more from one of the most modern respected historians and a woman, to boot, hoping that darling Eleanor of the Golden Boots would get a better shake, but…eh, no. While this book, like the last book, is ostensibly a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine (one of history’s most amazing women, I don’t mind telling you), because of the dearth of sources relating directly to Eleanor it is in reality of history of the times in which she lived and, more accurately, a biography of her two famous husbands, Louis VII of France and Henry II of England. The truth is, we know very little about Eleanor in her own right, and what is known about her is generally in conjunction with one of her spouses or her sons, particularly Richard and John. Nonetheless, remnants of this formidable woman’s life do shine through the deeds of her menfolk (perhaps my favorite story about her is that the closing to her letters usually read “Eleanor, by the grace of God, Queen of England”; however, when the Pope refused to intercede on behalf of her captured son Richard the Lionheart she instead signed her letter to His Holiness “Eleanor, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England” – that she was gutsy enough to threaten the most powerful man in the western world of her day speaks volumes).

How, then, to fill 400+ pages on a subject for which there is no reliable history? Well, I’ll tell ya: First, you fill the book with general history and facts regarding 12^th Century Europe. There is every bit as much, if not more, written about Henry II of England, Eleanor’s second husband, than there is about Eleanor herself. Weir writes extensively about the Second Crusade, undertaken by Eleanor’s first husband, Louis VII of France, but has virtually nothing to say about Eleanor’s role therein (understandable, since there are no sources that speak of it). The book deals primarily with the political and martial dealings between the various Kings, Dukes, Earls and Counts of Europe and England. Next, you write about the role of women in 12^th Century Europe and try to compare and contrast Eleanor’s activities in an attempt to paint her as a much more politically savvy and active member of society than most women of the age. Lastly, you take very flimsy historical information and try to expand it to fill the historical gaps and flesh out the ostensible object of your “biography”. With respect to Weir’s writing style, I found it to be very dry and, at times, merely a recitation of historical facts running for pages at a time. The plethora of names and titles were at times confusing, a situation that was compounded by the aforementioned style utilized by the author. We learn all about Eleanor’s family, titles and estates, and the rough timeline of her marriages, divorce, children and death…beyond that, with respect to Eleanor herself, we know very little (hell, we don’t even have a reliable likeness of her). To sell this work as a “biography” is to give the word a definition with which I am unfamiliar.